Fun and Games

Starred review from April 18, 2011
Swierczynski (Severance Package) steps on the gas early in this pulse-pounding contemporary thriller, the first of a trilogy, and doesn't let up. After second-tier movie actress Lane Madden survives multiple attempts by aggressive fellow drivers to run her off some treacherous Los Angeles roads, she has the good fortune to meet Charlie Hardie, a peripatetic house-sitter with a violent past, at the house in the Hollywood Hills where she takes refuge. Hardie, a former police consultant who's haunted by the deaths of several innocents, is skeptical of the actress's claim that she's being pursued by the Accident People, a shadowy group of killers who stage their homicides to appear as accidents. An escalating series of violent encounters builds to an unforgettable climax. Fans of the Die Hard movies will find this a literary equivalent, and the author deserves credit for making what could be an over-the-top setup oddly plausible. The sequel's appearance won't be too soon for many readers.

January 1, 2011

Understandably devastated by the revenge killing of his partner's entire family, ex-cop Charlie Hardie hides himself away, essentially serving as a house sitter. The house comes with an actress of sorts, who seems unhinged by the idea that certain hit men can make death look accidental. Then Charlie discovers that those hit men really exist, and the actress is next on their list. The author of stuff like the X-Men spinoff Cable for Marvel Comics certainly has good thriller credentials.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Swierczynskis books are like cage matches, where a small cast of characters with everything to lose is locked in for a fight to the finish. That their brutality is so bloody satisfying says something about us and a lot about the authors talent. Charlie Hardie is an alcoholic housesitter with a tortured conscience. Locked out of his newest job at a musicians home in the Hollywood hills, he breaks in and finds troubled actress Lane Madden hiding from Them. They are the Accident People, a hit squad of Hollywood has-beens who not only stage killings but craft believable narratives for public consumption. As the Accident People lay siege to the house, and then the action spills outside, the secrets of Lanes and Charlies pasts propel the narrative to its violent but satisfying ending. Swierczynskis brand of high-adrenaline thrills requires readers to accept that characters can survive a ton of punishment and that a bad guy can master the Internet from a smart phonebut were OK with that if you are. Expect two more Hardie books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)